In Sorcery's Shadow: A Memoir of Apprenticeship among the Songhay of Niger

Had to get this book for an Anthropology class. It was the only book we had to read that I actually enjoyed, and that's coming from a big book fan. I actually looked up Stoller's YouTube channel after reading this, I wanted to know more about him and his work and his life.It was a very well-written account of his time learning sorcery (technically, it wasn't all sorcery by definition, but a lot of it was) and according to others in my class it was very engaging. It's easy to keep me interested in a book, I just love reading, but many people don't, so I figured I'd include that my class's general consensus was about the same as mine.I dunno, if you're interested in learning about sorcery in Africa, it might not be the most educational resource since it's from a very ethnocentric perspective, but if you're simply interested in the subject in general I'd give it a read.

As a former Peace Corps volunteer in Niger, I had many unanswered questions about the Songhay's pre-Islamic beliefs by the time I got home. A lot of what I saw over there really makes more sense now that I've read this book (particularly what supposedly happens during possession dances and what their purpose is). Stoller does a great job turning the information into a narrative with dialogue and character development that really grabs the reader's attention and sustains it, making it read more like a thriller than an ethnography (which is not a bad thing as ethnographies can be very dry). Thus, you don't have to be an anthropologist to enjoy this book. My bias might be that I lived among Songhay for two years and appreciated many of his references in a way someone else might overlook.My only gripe is that he seems to focus his effort so much in making the book enjoyable that he neglects a lot of the raw information I was looking for when I purchased this book. Fortunately, Stoller also wrote many other books on the Songhay which I thought did a much better job at explaining the whats and the whys, particularly in the history and origins of traditional "animism."

We are preparing for a short term medical mission to Niger. This helped me gain an additional perspective.

Nice speed and quality

Great book! Amazing novel and story

A fantastic ethnography, but reads more like a novel. Immensely entertaining.

Good book, gives you a (somewhat) insider experiences of Songhay culture and Sorcery. I enjoyed it. I guess he also has another book that is like a prequel to this one and I guess reading this one is good after that one, I don't know what it's called though.

I really liked this book. Whitefella culture isn't the only model, and books like this help us realize that. Like Michael Harner, he quit being objective, and dove in. There are a whole range of books on this subject, of various levels and quality. I do so love Anthropology. Other people say what they say. I like reviews that mention similar books, at least books on the same path, so I do that.If you want to further understand this area,  Urban Shaman , The Future Is Yours: Do Something About It! , Lost Secrets of Ancient Hawaiian Huna, Volume 1 , ThetaHealing  can be helpful, especially in getting a model of how this non-Western world view functions.  The Vision: The Dramatic True Story of One Man's Search for Enlightenment (Religion and Spirituality)  is an intro to a different kind of world, as is Whispers of the Ancients: Native Tales for Teaching and Healing in Our Time , and  House of Shattering Light: Life as an American Indian Mystic , or  Journey to the Ancestral Self: The Native Lifeway Guide to Living in Harmony With Earth Mother, Book 1 (Bk.1) . Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives  is a very superficial discussion of what indigenous spiritual apprenticeship could be. Wong Kiew Kit's books show some unusual survivals of nonwestern ideas in Chinese culture. My Tai Chi teacher was trained by Cheng Man-Ching, and he was really, really good. Joseph Murphy  The Power of Your Subconscious Mind  gives a Western slant to this.

Als Geschenk für meinen Afrikanische Schwiegersohn ( Uganda)